Warhammer 40K - Malcador Heavy Tank Free Paper Model Download

This paper model is a Malcador Heavy Tank, based on the game Warhammer 40K, the papercraft was created by Patoroch. The Malcador Heavy Tank (aka Malcador Assault Tank) is a venerable pattern of armoured vehicle that predates the Leman Russ tank in the Imperium of Man's service. It is not widely used by Imperial armed forces at the present time and is in fact little known even within the Imperial military. In many regions of the Imperium, the Malcador passed out of common service many millennia ago. The few Malcadors that remain in the Emperor of Mankind's service have been relegated to the Departmento Munitorum's strategic reserve, to the arsenals of second-line Planetary Defence Forces or are maintained in active service only by a few units of the Imperial Guard due to ancient tradition.

The Malcador was designed to fill the role of a main battle tank for the Imperial Guard, though the Malcador pattern is somewhat larger and heavier than the Leman Russ pattern that replaced it as the standard tank of the Guard. The Malcador has considerable durability as a result of its sheer bulk and the heavy layers of armoured plating that it is wrapped in. It is well-armed for its size with a Battle Cannon mounted in a limited-traverse turret embrasure. This main weapon is supplemented by a hull and 2 additional sponson heavy weapons mounts that can carry attached Heavy Stubbers, Heavy Bolters, a Lascannon or an Autocannon. The Malcador does possess some limitations, however, especially when compared to the lighter but more versatile Leman Russ Tank. The overall shape of the tank reduces the traversing range of its sponson and hull weapons, producing a limited arc of fire due to its heavy armour plating and reinforced weapons mounts. Its immobile main turret can also prove to be a problem in a chaotic engagement where the lines of battle interpenetrate and the foe's infantry or armour units can take advantage of the Malcador's limited firing arc. Experienced commanders minimize these problems by combining other armour variants and infantry support with their squadrons of Malcadors. The Malcador tank could be outfitted with a variety of upgrades and attachments, such as camouflage netting, extra armour plating, an improved communications system, a Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher, a mine sweeper, a Pintle-mounted Heavy Stubber, rough terrain modifications, track guards, a searchlight, and smoke launchers. [Source: Wikia]

However, the tank has another major problem, the vulnerability of its engine. The Malcador's main engine plant, a thermic combustor design that is a variant for military use of a common pattern used in industrial and agricultural machinery across the human-settled galaxy, is underpowered in relation to the Malcador's sheer size and mass. This reduces its performance and provides very poor fuel efficiency. This problem has often plagued the Malcador and its variants and has been the primary reason why this pattern of heavy tank has been relegated to second-line status amongst the Imperial military forces.

During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy the Malcador was used by both the Imperial Army and the Space Marine Legions as a main battle tank until it was replaced in service by more powerful vehicles such as the Land Raider Proteus. The Malcadors of these eras featured many features that have been lost to the Imperium over the subsequent millennia, the most notable being the full understanding of the vehicle's engine and drive system, for during the earliest eras of Imperial history, the Malcador was lauded for its formidable battle speed, a feature that has been lost, for many Imperial commanders now see the Malacador as unreliable at best. The Malcador was also once capable of being outfitted with Flare Shield technology, which is now lost or forgotten by the Imperium. Flare Shields were similar to present-day Imperial Void Shield technology, but were effective on a smaller scale. It is unknown if this technology is still in use in parts of the Imperium in the late 41st Millennium or if it has been lost over the millennia like so much else from that era. During these ancient times it was also common practise to equip Malcadors with an additional layer of ceramite plating, for added protection against enemy fire. The tank was also capable of mounting a wide variety of Pintle-mounted weapons such as twin-linked Bolters, certain Combi-Weapons, a Heavy Flamer or a Heavy Stubber. When the Malcador was in service to the Space Marine Legions they were usually crewed by the Legion's auxiliary mortal personnel, but they could also be crewed by the Space Marines themselves. The Malcador was also regularly fielded as a command vehicle.

The Malcador Assault Tank is a truly ancient design dating back to the wars that consumed Terra during the Age of Strife. The Imperial production model of this heavy tank was named after Malcador the Sigillite, the Regent of Terra and right hand of the Emperor of Mankind during the Unification Wars, the Great Crusade, and the Horus Heresy of the late 30th and early 31st Millennia. The Imperial Malcador tank was produced by the thousands by the Forge Worlds of Mars and Voss during the beginning of the Great Crusade where it was one of the primary main battle tanks of both the Imperial Army and the Space Marine Legions. Although the Malcador was not as heavily armed as the Baneblade or as heavily armoured as the Land Raider, it possessed a number of advantages, the principal of which was its battle speed, which was formidable for a tank of its size. This was thanks to its highly sophisticated, if temperamental, drive system. The Malcador was eventually replaced in Legion service by the Land Raider Proteus, and by the time of the Horus Heresy many Malcador tanks had been regulated to the Legions' strategic reserves and second line Imperial Army units, only to be replaced by newer, more powerful designs. During the Horus Heresy the high demand for armour lead to the the Malcador being brought back into the fray, and their ubiqutousness in the Imperial reserves saw them used as test-beds for a variety of new variants intended to replace losses and fill gaps in supply. By the time of the late 41st Millennium, the Malcador Heavy Tank and its various replacement parts are now only produced on a very few of the Adeptus Mechanicus' Forge Worlds, though the planet of M'Khand Secundus in the Segmentum Pacificus is one rare exception where the Malcador is produced in relatively large numbers.

Like the much more common Leman Russ main battle tank, the Malcador has had numerous hull variants designed over the course of its long service with the Imperial Guard. These were created to fulfill a specific battlefield role or to overcome a particular problem with the pattern's design. These variants have included siege weapon platforms, self-propelled artillery and other specialised versions. The two most common variants are the Malcador Annihilator tank hunter and the Malcador Defender breakthrough tank.